[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/how-to-pay-your-bills-on-time-and-save-time-doing-so\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/how-to-pay-your-bills-on-time-and-save-time-doing-so\/","headline":"How to Pay Your Bills on Time and Save Time Doing So","name":"How to Pay Your Bills on Time and Save Time Doing So","description":"Conventional wisdom says that you should always have at least a 6-month reserve of money in your bank account in case of emergencies (like losing your job). Maybe in today’s world we need at least a 12-month reserve of money. But let’s assume you have only managed to save one month’s income in reserve. After...","datePublished":"2016-08-19","dateModified":"2016-08-07","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/author\/mark\/#Person","name":"Mark","url":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/author\/mark\/","identifier":2,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/131cfccbaaff5083caadb2ebb178119fe605ab5a0bdcf4a00e7f2ec170a49434?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/131cfccbaaff5083caadb2ebb178119fe605ab5a0bdcf4a00e7f2ec170a49434?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reflective Dynamics, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/time-management-plans-blog-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/time-management-plans-blog-logo.jpg","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/bills.jpg?fit=425%2C282&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/bills.jpg?fit=425%2C282&ssl=1","height":282,"width":425},"url":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/how-to-pay-your-bills-on-time-and-save-time-doing-so\/","about":["Systems"],"wordCount":723,"articleBody":"Conventional wisdom says that you should always have at least a 6-month reserve of money in your bank account in case of emergencies (like losing your job). Maybe in today’s world we need at least a 12-month reserve of money. But let’s assume you have only managed to save one month’s income in reserve. After the Great Recession of 2008-9, that is still a pretty good achievement.So here is how you can leverage your one-month reserve of cash to make sure you pay your bills on time. This calls for very careful planning and money management. You MUST monitor your bank account frequently throughout the week to ensure you don’t go over budget. But there are a couple of ways to cut down on the amount of time you need to monitor the bank activity.Set Up Direct Debit Payments for As Many Bills as PossibleDirect debits come right out of your bank account. More and more companies are making this payment option available. The great part is that you don’t have to pay any fees (in my experience). The bad part is that if you fail to keep enough money in your account when the debit goes through your balance will go negative and you will incur 1 or more overdraft fees. OUCH!If you keep a minimum balance of several thousand dollars in your checking account and set up direct deposit from your job you should be okay. Having that one month cushion in your account ensures your direct debit payments are always made on time.Set Up Automated Bill Payments from Your Bank AccountThese are not direct debits. Your bank prints checks and mails them to your creditors and suppliers. So you have to send these bills out about a week before they are do. If your bill payments vary from month to month you may have to log in to adjust the scheduled amounts.As with direct debit payments you need to make sure your account has enough money to cover all your scheduled payments. Otherwise the bank will not process them. At least with automated bill pay you probably won’t see any overdrafts if you don’t have enough money in the account.How to Live with Automated PaymentsOne way to ensure you don’t accidentally spend the money set aside for your bills is to maintain two checking accounts: one for scheduled payments and one for everything else. At least with two separate accounts you don’t have to worry about whether you just accidentally spent the money for the electric bill.Another way to keep your bank account stable is to live on a cash budget for all non-bill activity. Withdraw a few hundred dollars a week and just live on that. Whenever you want to go to the store you check your wallet to see if you have any cash. At least that way you’ll know before you walk out the door if you can pay for whatever you want to buy.Although living on a cash-only basis is hard for some people (they may spend all their cash in one day), it’s a great way to keep control over your spending if you honor the system.How This Saves You TimeNot having to calculate all your bills every month will free up 2-4 hours of personal time each month. You will still need to reconcile your bank statements and balance your checkbook, but this system will definitely save you time.Knowing exactly how much money you have to spend at any given moment also helps you make spur-of-the-moment purchase decisions more easily with less agonizing procrastination. You won’t be constantly jumping onto the computer to see how much is in your account, and then mentally juggling the balance to see if you have any money left over.Although you may only save a few hours’ time each month by adopting this system, you will reduce your stress and avoid late fees on any bills that sometimes escape your notice. So this system should also help you save money, and that is always a good thing too, right?Did you like this article?  Please share it with your friends and visitors to your Website.  Tell people about www.TimeManagementPlans.Com.  Thank you."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"How to Pay Your Bills on Time and Save Time Doing So","item":"https:\/\/www.timemanagementplans.com\/how-to-pay-your-bills-on-time-and-save-time-doing-so\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]